The developers, The Neil Group, asked their architect to specify quality New Zealand-made products for Lauriston Park where possible. "We're a New Zealand company and we like to buy New Zealand products," Trevor Canty of The Neil Group says. "It's part of our commitment to being sustainable and eco-friendly."

The villas of Lauriston Park are clad in a mix of brick veneer and weatherboards. The Neil Group's commitment to New Zealand-made added to the list of requirements T Plus Architects' Serban Teodorescu had for cladding. For the weatherboards Serban wanted solid timber, rather than fibre-cement. He wanted a complete purpose-designed cladding solution. Plus, he wanted them to be locally sourced and produced. On the recommendation of a fellow architect he took a look at Jenkin A-lign and liked what he saw.

From The Neil Group's perspective, Jenkin A-lign was a good choice.  "We like A-lign because it is a natural product that will stand the test of time," Trevor Canty says.

Site manager Shane Watts says the Jenkin A-lign is performing well. "The pre-cut scribers are very good on the whole. The only problem is if you are trying to sneak in an extra 3 or 4 mils to line up with a window, it's a bit difficult.  The baseboards are good too - I like that the kick-out is already in place."

Shane has appreciated the service Jenkin's Area Sales Manager (Central Region) Brent Speers, has provided. "If we had any issues, Brent was on to it," Shane says.

The Neil Group are justifiably proud of Lauriston Park, their first development of a retirement community.

"Our best sales force are our current residents,"Trevor says. "They're getting all their friends to move in!"